NEED FOR UN CLIMATE TALKS TO PUT GROWING CONTAMINATION OF TAP WATER ON THE AGENDA, SAYS BLUEWATER

The one-day UN Climate Change Summit in New
York, the largest of its kind since the 2009 meeting in Copenhagen, has ended
with a general consensus from government leaders to commit to action on tacking
the impact of global warming.

The summit was widely seen as a
five-minutes-to-midnight call for bringing climate change negotiations back on
track before global warming reaches a point of no return. It is a move Sweden’s
Bluewater™ residential water cleaning company fully endorses, but urges global
leaders to also step up to address the very real problem of contaminated tap
water, a severe global issue facing industrialized and developing countries
alike.

“Climate change is an issue we ignore at our
peril and we applaud every effort to work towards finding solutions,” said
Bluewater™ managing director, Niclas Wullt.

“But we also want to draw attention to the
reality that due to widespread environmental pollution across a spectrum of
causes, tap water increasingly contains health and wellbeing threatening
contaminants – from chemicals
and pharmaceuticals to household cleaners and hormonal drugs.”

Mr. Wullt noted that WHO says that only about one-third of the
world’s potential fresh water can be used for human needs due to ‘increased
pollution from municipal and industrial waste and the leaching of fertilizers
and pesticides in agriculture’.

In China, and
other industrializing countries across Asia, Latin America and Africa, research
is flagging up emerging health hazards arising from the likes of groundwater
arsenic contamination, which stems from industrial mining and environmental
conditions. A study by Montana State University estimated 70 million people
were ‘currently at risk for arsenic poisoning in the Bangladesh area, resulting
in a major health crisis and need for clean water’.

“If you believe this
problem only relates to third-world or developing countries, think again,” said
Mr. Wullt. “From Swiss lakes to Canadian streams to aquifers deep underground,
you will find water ‘poisoned’ by a cocktail of hormones, antibiotics and other
contaminants in ever growing amounts.”

He noted that just
four years ago, a New York Times investigation revealed more than
20 percent of water treatment systems had violated key provisions of the U.S.
Safe Drinking Water Act. And
a probe by the Associated Press National Investigative Team also found a vast array of
pharmaceuticals including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and
sex hormones in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.

“As
the UN meets in New York to discuss Climate Change, it's maybe time now to
understand that while a water tap would be a step up for many millions in
developing countries, accessing water does not mean 'safe drinking' water, even
in our industrialized countries,” Mr. Wullt said.

He
noted how figures from the World Health Organisation and
Unicef’s Joint Monitoring Programme suggest that 748 million people lack access
to water...
yet, research shows that if we include the word
'safe', the figure balloons with some 1.8 billion people thought to lack access
to safe water, which equals about 25.3% of the global population of 7.1
billion.

“If nothing else, that figure should
act as a call to action by world governments to focus on delivering to people
what should be a basic human right – drinking water as pure as nature
intended,” Niclas Wullt said.

Sold in major markets around the world, Bluewater SuperiorOsmosis ™ patented technology delivers on-demand cleaner, healthier water direct from the tap. Innovated with love in Sweden, Bluewater water purifiers improve user quality of life, health and wellbeing by removing practically all known contamination from drinking water, including micro-organisms, pesticides, heavy metals and toxins. Bluewater™ is the registered trademark of Blueblue AB, a company registered Sweden.

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